Standing Floor Ashtray
Object Name
Standing Floor Ashtray
Label
Briefly capturing the attention of passing park visitors, this standing floor ashtray features two metal clasping pins intended to hold lit cigarettes. Purchased around 1966, its hollow flute and base served a dual purpose, collecting the ash as it fell and providing a disposal canister for finished cigarettes.These standing ashtrays were placed alongside benches and chairs in the visitor center, encouraging visitors to sit down and relax. The fact that the Mission 66 Furnishings Collection at Rocky Mountain National Park includes three different types of ashtrays is a testament to smoking’s popularity in the 1960s. Visitors were not only allowed to light up, but were encouraged to do so as they explored the Visitor Center.
Popularity of Smoking in the 1960s:
What The Past Has Left Behind
Tobacco consumption has resulted in the use and disposal of material culture (Cook, 1997). Perhaps the most telling type of material culture left behind during the 1960s is found in advertising campaigns of the period. Print and television ads promoted images of young, happy, healthy smokers, often outside in idyllic landscapes or on a date with an attractive partner. These advertisements provide near-visceral insight into society’s general acceptance and promotion of smoking during the early sixties.
